I was just watching some night racing from Solvalla Race Course in Sweden,If you get a chance try and watch a bit....its snow covered and with the track lighting and all the colours it is an amazing sight watching those great gaited trotters compete....I can see why they pack the stands ...such a great sport

Spent a week in Stockholm this past June, unfortunately missing the Elitlopp ("The Elite Race") by a week or so.

Equally unfortunate, Solvalla (their Meadowlands, just outside the city) was closed that week and the nearest live racing was several hours away.

Fortunately, OTBs are extremely common throughout the city (as are 7-Elevens) and the Swedes are amazingly bilingual (as well as urbane, educated, upscale cosmopolitan) so buying a program and placing wagers was really no different than in the US. (Except for the prices! Stockholm is incredibly expensive, $6 for a cup of coffee, $10 for a beer, $8 for a Big Mac - largely due to a 25% value added tax that is built into the price of essentially everything one purchases ...)

Also nearly identical to the US was the OTBs' scroungy atmosphere and know-it-all loser clientele ("worst drive I ever saw!", " I TOLD you it was the 5!!"). OTBs are apparently the same the world around.

Very much unlike the US was the surprisingly large fields (10,11,12 or more horses per race was pretty common) resulting in many horses racing the entire "mile" (1500m or 1600m was normal) off the rail - being parked was no big deal, just part of the game.

I was watching today and the commentator was talking about a new Jan. 1st rule that says if you suffer broken equipment or another problem and you leave the course you must be back on in 5 mins or you are to be a judges scratch....no exceptions!! He went on to say its always some 90-1 shot from a small outfit who has old out of date equipment prone to brakes and dont have the proper horsemanship skills to properly check for problems before post parade....its always a favorite who gets worked up with the extra wait and makes a break behind the gait....this announcer speaks his mind....also James Rattray who helped out Noel Daley this summer is racing in Sweden today...never liked his driving here much.